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Monday, June 30, 2014

More revising. I've managed 15 chapters so far. As my CPs read them, I'm going back to make changes they suggest. So some days are more about fixing the things that aren't working while others are about forging ahead.

The kids go on holiday from school for two weeks next week, so I know my writing time will be limited, and since I'm planning to take an extra day off each week to spend with them, my day-job is going to be crazy this week. More than usual even... Is that even possible?

So this week's goal is to get through 8 chapters of revision. I'm not sure it's possible, but it's a good goal, right?

Friday, June 27, 2014

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop,Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!So, what am I celebrating this week?I've revised 14 chapters of my book now. I'm still not sure if any of it is any good, but at least I think the writing is smoothed out now. It's just the plot I'm unsure of...

The Film Festival programme was released on Thursday. I've been having a great time mapping out how I can see everything I want to see at the same time as working at one of the venues.

It has been pretty quiet at work this week which has meant I've caught up on a lot of little things I've been trying to do for ages.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

If you haven't already heard of Dahlia Adler, you obviously aren't on Twitter enough! She's one of the most prolific readers I know, and a massive champion of LGBTQ books. She's also a writer and her book, Behind the Scenes, is out this week. When she asked for people to help out with her blog tour, I had to say yes because her book so perfectly fits the theme of this blog.

To celebrate the launch of her book, Dahlia wants a look at what's behind the scenes in other peoples lives. So, I thought I'd share a little bit of my writing process and show you a bit of my idea file. When I get an idea for a new story, it tends to start as something really small, so I jot it down on a scrap of paper if I'm not at home, or type it into a new document on the computer if I happen to be nearby. And sometimes the ideas come out looking like this:

IDEA #2

Caleb was born with a congenital heart
defect. He had his first
transplant at the age of three. He
had his second at seven, and his most recent at twelve. Now he’s 17, and his body is rejecting
heart number 3.

As soon as the symptoms begin showing, his
parents and doctors rush to put his name back on the donor list. But Caleb doesn’t want to go through
another agonizing surgery and another long, painful recovery. His body clearly doesn’t want to live –
if it did, why would it keep rejecting every heart it was offered - so neither
does Caleb.

Unable to understand his decision, Caleb’s
parents refuse to listen to him.
His doctor is sympathetic, but because he’s a minor, Caleb’s choice is
overridden by his parents and their desperate need to keep him alive.

Caleb decides to live only as long as it
takes for the hospital to find him a new heart. Then he’ll kill himself before the surgery takes place so
the heart can go to some other needy patient. Knowing it could be a matter of weeks or months, Caleb
decides to use the time he has left to do something special for each of the
people he’s closest to, as a way to say goodbye.

But a new heart becomes available far
sooner than Caleb expected, and he hasn’t said all his goodbyes. Does he take the heart and finish his
mission, or does he take his life now?

I found this when I was trawling through my notes and ideas in search of something behind the scenes enough to share here, and was startled by how many great ideas I've scrawled down and never actually written. I found an entire novel outline in there too, and was amazed I'd never written it because the story sounds good! I may be rethinking my next project now....

Make sure you add Behind the Scenes to your TBR pile. It's out now, and you can get it at any of these wonderful retailers.

Monday, June 23, 2014

My goals for this week aren't that different than they have been for the last few weeks. It's all about revision.

I'm doing okay. I've revised 10 chapters so far (of 36, so long way to go still). I hope to get through another 3 or 4 this week, although I might be dreaming. I only have one more free night until Sunday because of work and various work related functions.

I had a bit of a breakthrough this afternoon in thinking about the new/old story that I want to work on next. It occurs to me that the MC is in fact one of the side characters from An Unstill Life. As soon as I realized that, a whole lot more of the story slid into focus. So I'm looking forward to finishing my revisions so I can jump into that one. And it might give me the chance to briefly re-visit Livvie 2 or 3 years on. Is that something readers would be interested in?

As far as real life stuff goes, I need to get things organized for the kids over the holidays which are coming up at the end of next week. In fact, I think I'll go now and enroll them in the holiday program before I forget....

Friday, June 20, 2014

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop,Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!So, what am I celebrating this week?I haven't been as productive with my revising this week. I worked an extra night, and I have a stinking, streaming, sinus-filling cold, so sitting in my unheated writing room hasn't felt appealing. I've revised 8 now, so still on target if I'm working toward 4 a week, but slower than last week.

I'm celebrating the awesomeness of my CPs, especially Lexa Cain who has read and sent feedback on my chapters almost as soon as I've sent them. And she doesn't think they suck!

It's my youngest son's 7th birthday tomorrow, so I'm celebrating getting through 7 years without killing or damaging him in some way. Okay, there's probably psychological damage, but it won't manifest until he's older, right?

I got a lovely email from an agent about one of my books. It wasn't an offer, unfortunately, but it was the best kind of rejection, one where the agent loved the book, but just wasn't sure it would sell. It still hurts, but knowing someone out there loves the voice, the story and the writing makes me want to keep putting it out there. I always knew that book would be a tough one to sell, and I've been proven right over and over. I feel like I may need to think about publishing this one myself if I'm going to share it with the world. But I'm not sure that's a road I want to go down.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Because I'm Disposable is a YA contemporary by Rosie Somers and will be available on July 9th! I'm happy to help reveal the cover today! Isn't it pretty? And the book sounds like a great read too. I can't wait.

Sixteen-year-old Callista Tanner was in the bathroom slitting her wrists the night her father took a fatal plunge down the stairs. People around her think she attempted suicide because she found him dead -- or worse, because she had a guilty conscience. Few know the truth; Michael Tanner had been beating her for years.

The freedom that should have come with her father's death becomes a cage of rumors and self-doubt. Callie seeks escape in the most destructive ways, bringing her emotional scars to the surface for the world to see.

One bright spot exists in Callie's dark world.

Lincoln Devaux refuses to let Callie sink fully into the depths of her own depression, stepping into her life when she needs someone the most. She tries to push him away, but Link is determined to save Callie from herself. Even when she doesn't think she's worth saving.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Title: The Sidewalk's RegretsAuthor: Kate LarkindaleGenre: YA ContemporaryWord count: 87 000Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Sacha McLeod isn’t looking for someone to rock her
world. She just needs a new violin string to replace the one she broke
while practicing her audition piece. But when she hears the boy in the
music store play guitar, the energy, violence and unpredictability of the music
thrills her. She soon learns that
the boy who creates it does the same.

As their attraction heats up, Sacha finds herself spending less time
with her violin and more time with Dylan, who makes her feel things she’s never
imagined. But her plans for her future - and her self-confidence – are
shattered when she screws up the audition. Failure isn’t something she’s
prepared for, so when Dylan asks her to spend her vacation with him, she lies
to her parents, pretends she won a place in the summer school, and moves in
with Dylan. She’s expecting romance, music and passion, but when she
finds herself playing second fiddle to Dylan’s newly acquired drug habit, she
realizes despite what songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.

Desperate to understand what’s competing with her for Dylan’s
affections, she joins his band and does drugs with him -- just once. But once
become twice, three times, and more. As the band's popularity grows, so do the
pressures and her drug use escalates. If Sacha can’t figure out how to
leave the band, and Dylan, she’ll lose herself and her own music; if she does,
she’ll lose the guy who stole her heart.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Revision! I've made it through 5 chapters so far which is around about what I was aiming at for the week. I hope to be able to do the same next week, although the further into the book I get, the more work the chapters are going to need.I found an old, half-finished manuscript I started a couple of years ago and read through it. It's not nearly as bad as I thought it was when I abandoned it. This, plus the outline/synopsis for the same book I found on my hard drive are leading me to think my next project will be to finish this story. I can't even remember why I dumped it now... I think it's NA, not YA though, but I don't have a problem with that.What are you celebrating this week?

Monday, June 9, 2014

I've had my week off, so now it's back to the grindstone. I'm going to dive into edits on Lana tonight. My plan is to get through 4 - 5 chapters per week. I know some weeks will be easier than others because some chapters are better realized than others. But if I can average that, and get the chapters off to my CPs, I'll be well on my way to getting this book finished.

While I was off I read through a pile of stuff in my miscellaneous ideas file and found a couple of really interesting things. So while I revise Lana, I'm going to think about what I really want to write next. There's an NA idea in there I like, but there's also the new shiny idea I thought would be my next project. Not to mention another music story I found a few notes on in the file. So I'll have to do some heart-listening to see which one of the stories calls my name loudest.

My work week got off to a rough start today, so I know I'm going to have to push to make it to my target. But I figure if I get through 4 chapters this week, it'll make next week that much easier. Do you find a routine and a deadline helps you get where you need to be?

Thursday, June 5, 2014

It's been a long week. It hasn't been a fun week either, so I'm celebrating going out to dinner with some friends tonight. And you'd better believe I am looking forward to that first glass of wine!Work has been hard this week. Monday was a public holiday which always puts pressure on the other days of the week, and I've been having more staffing issues which are stressful.I have had a week off from writing, which is probably a good thing since my head has been so scrambled. But while I've been on my break, I've been trawling through my ideas files and found a fairly (for me) detailed outline of a book I started a while ago and never finished. I also found two other jotted down ideas that sound interesting. So I'm certainly not going to be short on choice when it comes time to work on something new. But before then, revision!I'm actually looking forward to revising this time. I have a good idea what I need to do, and I'm excited to see if I can make it work. This book (Finding Lana Jones), is a challenging one, and the main character is unlike anyone I've ever written (or seen in other books) before. If I can pull it off, I think this story could be quite special. If I can't, well.... dog poop.What are you celebrating this week?

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Okay, so I've been pretty bad about doing this whole accountability thing... But that said, I did manage to finish my draft on Friday night. Finally.

So this week is a little goal-less. I'm taking a short break while I try to focus my head before diving into revisions. I think the long break I had in the middle of writing this book made a huge difference, because I'm pretty sure the idea I had to start with, and the idea I wound up with, are quite different different. So when I revise, I'm going to have to focus the first half or more so it fits with the ending and what I feel the book is actually now about.

Or maybe I just figured out what I was writing in the process of writing it. That often happens to me. The joy of pantsing is that whole discovery of the story. Unfortunately it also means you need to do a whole lot more revision at the end... At least in my case.

But I feel like I know the core of my story now, and how things need to change to meet that. I'm actually looking forward to revising even though I know my critique partners are going to have a field day with the chaotic mess I've managed to write.

About Me

Author of An Unstill Life and STUMPED (releasing 15 December 2017) I am a writer, marketing executive for a national film agency, film reviewer and mother to two boys. As you can imagine, with all that going on, I don't sleep much.